Read the arguments from Babe Ruthless and Loyal Homer about which NFL division has been the most surprising.
As is always the case, there have been many surprises in the NFL in 2009. Teams which were supposed to succeed will fail, and teams which are supposed to fail will succeed. The NFC North, though, went four-for-four in the surprise category this season.
Detroit Lions
On the ‘Surprise-o-Meter’ the Detroit Lions provide the smallest blip of all the teams in the NFC North. But, realistically, would you have picked them to win two games all season? I thought that the only achievement the Lions were going to claim this season was the new record for consecutive losses. Instead, they managed to put together not just one, but TWO wins. Again, this is not an Earth-shattering surprise, but it is a surprise nonetheless.
Green Bay Packers
Coming in next on the scale of surprises from the NFC North is the Green Bay Packers. The Packers, who had been pegged as the likely champions of the division (with some even going so far as to choose the Packers as the NFC representatives in the Super Bowl), have played some of the most inconsistent football in the league. Behind quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the Packers have displayed the potential to put a TON of points on the board, scoring 30 points or more in five games, and being held to less than 20 points only once in the entire season. Those offensive stats should have been enough to lock up a playoff spot by this point in the season.
The reason that the Packers have been unable to seal the deal up to this point in the season is because of an inability to put away the teams that should have been easiest to beat. The Packers, despite offensive prowess, somehow managed to hand the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that team’s only win of the season, and most recently helped Pittsburgh end a five game losing streak which included losses against the Oakland Raiders, Kansas City Chiefs, and Cleveland Browns.
For a team pegged to make a Super Bowl run this season, that kind of inconsistency has been a surprise!
Chicago Bears
I would like to file a missing persons report – The Chicago Bears offense, which was expected to show up at Lambeau Field in Green Bay on September 13th, 2009, never arrived at their anticipated destination, and has not been seen or heard from since.
No offense in the NFL came into the season with higher expectations, and then failed to meet those expectations, as spectacularly as the Bears. After closing an alleged blockbuster deal that brought quarterback Jay Cutler to the Windy City, folks all over Chi-Town were giddy with anticipation to see what a bona-fide quarterback could actually do for their beloved Bears.
After all the anticipation, how exactly DID the Bears’ offense do behind that bona-fide quarterback? They have played to a record of 5-9, scoring 25 or more points only three times all season (against the Browns, Lions, and Seahawks… not exactly the NFL’s most dominant teams). In terms of season statistics, the team ranks 23rd out of 32 teams with only 18.1 points per game. For his part, Jay Cutler has thrown only 19 touchdowns to 25 interceptions, and has a passer rating of only 71.1.
I would rank the Chicago Bears as being one of the biggest disappointments of the entire season.
Minnesota Vikings
As surprising as the letdown of the Chicago Bears offense might have been, it is actually the Minnesota Vikings who top the surprise charts for 2009.
Brett Favre’s resurgence may not be a surprise any more (15 weeks later), but when you consider the manner in which he entered the season, it has clearly been one of the biggest surprises of 2009. Behind Favre, the Vikings have already clinched the NFC North, and stand poised to claim one of the two postseason byes in the NFC. Not bad for a team who’s coach, Brad Childress, was viewed as being on the hot seat when the season began!
Favre has not been the only surprise for the Vikings, though, and much of his success MUST be credited to his weapons on offense. Adrian Peterson has once again provided very strong numbers at the running back position, but it is the emergence of three receiving threats – Sidney Rice, tight end Visanthe Shiancoe, and NFL Rookie-of-the-Year frontrunner Percy Harvin – that has made the Vikings one of the most dangerous teams in the league.
Good or bad, the NFC North has been the most surprising division in the entire league. From top to bottom, it seems that none of the teams from the division got their respective memos on how to perform in 2009. They have collectively provided some of the biggest headlines of the NFL season, and have added some excitement and drama to a season that has been woefully lacking of both.
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